Part 17 (2/2)
As a er canoes were not known in this locality, though but 20 ers of the stems of banana plants were coraphical and also historical--at which the advanced ideas of the Papuan in the science of boat-building ceased to influence the tardy Australian Ere knowledge of the counterbalance crept further south, the advent of the arbitrary white ile single canoes of bark were the only enerate days can successfully i to disuse, the talent in that direction has alends which ont to be handed down frootten the very naations do not pretend to depth, nor are they presented in any authoritative inal in general nor from any particular standpoint A few side-shows and character sketches, are offered in the attempt to interest and entertain
In so the finest physically in Queensland, and desperately deceitful, are cute and as independent of artificial aids as ever
TURTLE AND SUCKERS
Generally unprogressive and uninventive, the aboriginals of the coast of North Queensland apply practically the result of the observation of a certain fact in the life-history of a fish in obtaining food By the exa, sharks and porpoises for loco the capture of the two first-erly hunted for their flesh
In the days of hoary antiquity it was believed that this strange fish ont to affix itself to the bottom of a shi+p, and was able of its h all sails were set According to the legend (a popular reat men explained away their faults and blunders), at the faht at Actium, Mark Antony's shi+p was held back by a realley-slaves
Shakespeare may say that Cleopatra's ”fearful sails” were the cause of Antony's fatal indecision and flight, and a lesser poet may cast the blame upon her ”timid tear”; but the tribute to the reood faith at the tilorious experience of other greatback when they should have sailed boldly on to victory or noble disaster
Vulgarly knoadays as ”the sucker,” and to science as the ”ECHENEIS REMORA” and ”ECHENEIS NAUCRATES,” and to the blacks as ”curave responsibility was thrown by the ancients monopolises the sub-order of ACANTHOPTAYGII (DISCOCEPHALI) Its distinguishi+ng feature is a shi+eld or disc extending from the tip of the upper jaw to a point behind the shoulders, and said to be a modification of the spurious dorsal fin This structure consists of araised or depressed
The disc has a in When the fish presses the soft edge of the disc against any s spaces, a vacuu power Other countries have sucker fish of different for a few other savage races, to make practical use of the creature, which, as a , turtle, shark and porpoise It can hardly be called domesticated, yet it is e, save that the sucker is fastened to a light line when the game is revealed
Some assert that the sucker swi to its host, butthe islands, where the water is transparently clear, I have seen the sucker swi Shy and easily startled, a wave of the hand over the gunwale is sufficient to scare it away; but it co to remain in its shadow Then it is easily seen that it sith the sucker uppermost
Occasionally when the blacks harpoon a turtle or a dugong a sucker is secured They declare that it stays in one locality until a suitable host happens along, and then for the rocks the blacks are at pains to catch it, and as it is shark-like in its nervousness, the sport demands considerable skill and patience ”Feed 'e principle
Delectable morsels of fresh fish are tendered abundantly until the sucker abandons his usual caution, and then when he is feeding freely a hook te the other dainties, and if the fish has been liberally and yet not over fed, it will probably accept the line, and after protesting and holding back to the best of its ability, find itself flapping in the bark canoe Should it get away--”Well! Plenty a salt water Catch 'em to-morrow”
When determined to secure a sucker whose haunt they have discovered, the blacks will feed it at intervals for a day or two to overco the coast the fish is plentiful and by nosecured the sucker, the blacks farm it in their haphazard fashi+on They fasten a line above the forked tall so securely that it cannot slip, nor be likely to readily cut through the skin, and tether it in shalloater, when it usually attaches itself to the bottom of the canoe When, as the result of frequent use and heavy strain, the tail of the sucker is so deeply cut by the line that it is in danger of being coh the body beside the backbone, and the line passed through it for additional security
Turtle being wanted, the blacks voyage out each in a bark canoe, which weighs about 40 lbs, is 8 feet long, 2 feet beam and 1 foot deeplittle ood sheer forward and a slight tilt at the stern, while the bottom is level Occasionally two iven The canoe is constructed of a single sheet of bark, preferably of ”Gulgong”
(EUCALYPTUS ROBUSTA) or ”Carr-lee” (ACACIA AULACOCARPA), or ”Wee-ree”
(CALOPHYLLUM INOPHYLLUM) brought neatly together at the ends, which are seith strips of lawyer cane Pieces of lawyer cane are sometimes also stitched in to represent ste pieces also are of cane, though occasionally thin pliant saplings are strapped and sewn on Across the bow and the stern are stays of cane, with generally a stronger thwart ular and bright, the canoe represents about the neatest and nattiest of the few constructive efforts of the blacks, and is as buoyant as a duck The seale tree known as ”Arral” (EVODIA ACCEDENS), and is prepared by being powdered on a flat stone previously moistened ater The powdered resin is ain, and after being rolled and kneaded into a lump, is wrapped in a leaf until wanted The finished article, which is also used as a cement, is known as ”Toon-coo”
Motor power for the canoe is a shovel-shaped piece of bark 5 inches by 3 1/2 inches, each e by a rapid succession of dexterous back strokes of his paddle
Naked and unashamed, the blacks are well equipped for sport They may have three or four harpoons of their ownon a piece of bark sprinkled with sand, or theya fire by friction The haft of the harpoon is probably red or orange h It has been duly seasoned and straightened by i water and exposure to fire At the heavy end it is hollowed out to a depth Of 4 inches The point is preferably of one of the black palms (ARCHONTOPHOENIX JARDINEI), and a barb is strapped to it with the fibre of the ”Man-djar” (HIBISCUS TILIACEOUS) and cemented with ”Toon-coo”
I have never known one of these barbs to break or co the, and on the barbless end is tightly wound successive layers of fibrous bark, until its size is adjusted to the socket in the haft Above the swathing of bark a strong line is made fast; the padded end is fitted into the socket, the line is th of the haft, and secured by three or four half hitches about a foot from the thin end A neat coil of perhaps 50 yards of line lies in the bottom of the canoe
Probably each of the blacks will have his fishi+ng-line, for so to expectations At high tide these feed a the coral on the reef, and the hunters wait and watch and fish silently and with all passivity Then, when ht schnapper, red brea the turtle, and the sport begins
In sight of the ga to the bottoed off and thrown in its direction As a preliorously scrubbed with dry sand or the pal passion of the fish It enial companionshi+p than an insipid canoe The line by which it is secured is made from the bark of the ”Boo-bah” (FICUS FASCICULATA) and is of two strands, so light as not to seriously encuh to withstand a considerable strain Two small loops are made in the line about an interval Of 2 fathoms from the sucker, to act as indicators
As soon as the sucker has attached itself to the turtle, a slight pull is given and the startled turtleeased out smartly Then sport of the kind that a salins The turtle goes as he pleases; but when he begins to tire, he finds that there is a certain check upon hi After ten minutes or so a critical phase of the sport occurs The turtle bobs up to the surface for a gulp of air, and should he catch sight of the occupants of the canoe, his start and sudden descentthat the sucker is divorced But the blacks watch, and in their experience judge to a nicety when and where the turtle ive precise infora ascertained the cause of the trifling annoyance to which he is being subjected The line is shortened up Perhaps the turtle sulks a the rocks and coral, and endeavours to free hi all the wiles and ly, and hour after hourline with fine skill and the utmost patience The turtle has become accustomed to the encumbrance, and visits the surface oftener for air One of the harpoons is raised, and as the turtle glearey, a couple of fathoms or so under the water, the canoe is se, and before it can get aline attached, is sticking a couple of inches deep in its shoulder
There is a mad splash--a little maelstroth, and the canoe careers about, accurately steered by the aft man, in the erratic course of the wounded creature
As it tires, the heavy haft of the harpoon secured by the half hitches round the thin end being a considerable drag, the line is shortened up, but too le line; so distance again When that moment arrives, a second harpoon is sent into the flesh below the edge of the carapace at the rear Unable to break away, the turtle is hauled close alongside the canoe, secured by the flippers and towed ashore I have known blacks, after harpooning a turtle, to be towed 6
How they accoh a couple of hundredweight from a frail bark canoe, in which a white man can scarcely sit and preserve his balance, is astonishi+ng In a lively sea the blacks sit back, tilting up the steht forward to ease it down, paddling,all the ti about in the canoe is a feat beyond the dexterity of an ordinary man